Description 4 1/2 - 5" Breeding male bright yellow with a white rump, black forehead, white edges on black wings and tail, and yellow at bend of wing. The summer female is olive yellow, with a bib of yellow on her neck and breast.

After a complete molt in the fall, the birds grow plumage that is almost identical in color for both sexes. They are buff-colored below and olive brown above. Their wings are black with white wing bars and the black tail is etched with white. The face and neck are a pale yellow only a hint of the bright yellow of summer.

Habitat Brushy thickets, weedy grasslands, and nearby trees.

DietPrincipally a seed-eater, the bird has an abundant food supply for much of the year, including seeds of thistle, dandelion, ragweed, mullein, cosmos, goatsbeard, sunflower, and alder.

Nesting Courtship between pairs begin in the spring; however actual mating and nest building doesn't take place until late summer.

The female builds the nest up to 30 feet off the ground in the terminal branches of a bush or tree. The female incubates 4 to 6 pale blue eggs for 12 to 14 days. The male brings her food while she incubates, and while she broods the young for the first few days after they hatch.

After that, both parents bring regurgitated seed to the young. The young leave the nest after 12 to 17 days, but the parents continue to feed the young for a few weeks. American Goldfinches generally raise one or two broods each year.

Range Breeds from southern British Columbia east to Newfoundland and south to California, Utah, southern Colorado, central Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Carolinas. Winters in much of United States.

They migrate in compact flocks with an erratic, "roller coaster" flight.

Voice Bright per-chick-o-ree, also rendered as potato-chips, delivered in flight and coinciding with each undulation.

Discussion Studies of their winter migrations from Vancouver, British Columbia, and Washington State have shown that these birds hesitate before flying across water. In one instance, some returned to the mainland.

One by one, the whole flock followed suit. Ten minutes later they returned to the waterside, chattering noisily. Many birds then continued on. Those remaining repeatedly took wing only to veer off and again return to land. Finally, a sharp drop in temperature forced the birds to complete their migration.

April 15, 2005 A flock of American Goldfinches swooped in, spent only minutes in my trees, then flew across town. I followed them in my car and got a few shots of them hanging in the trees near a stream. Not the best pictures, but was happy to get a few shots.

A return visit. A female house finch (at left) feeds with two goldfinch females and a male.

April 2005 Female

April 2005 Male

January 2006

January 2006

April 2005 Male

The State Bird of Washington

L to R: Male Goldfinch (winter plumage) far left, and female Goldfinch, far right, happily dine with two female house finches and one male house finch.